Coin-controlled apparatus.



N0. 628,!7l. Patented July 4, I899.

R. WAGNER.

COIN CONTROLLED, APPARATUS.

(Application filed June 80, 1898.)

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N0. 628,l7l. Patented July 4, I899. R. WAGNER. COIN CONTROLLED APPARATUS.

(Application filed June 30, 1898. Q 5 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.) N

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No. 628,17l. Patented m 4, I899.

n. WAGNER. COIN CONTROLLED APPARATUS.

(Application filed June 30, 1898.1

5 Sheets-Sheet 3,

No Model.)

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No. 628,l7l. Patented July 4, I899. R. WAGNER.

COIN CUNTBOLLED APPARATUS.

(Application filed June 80; 1898.)

5 Sheets8hoat v4,

No Model.)

BY i. P A JMQQVTW No. 628,!7l. Patented July 4,1899. R. WAGNER.

com CONTROLLED APPARATUS.

(Application filed. June 80, 1898.) V (No Modal.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 5,

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RUDOLPH WAGNER, OF NEIV YORK, N. Y.

COIN-CONTROLLED APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 628,171, dated July 4, 1899.

' Application filed June 30,1898. Serial No. 684,773. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RUDOLPH WAGNER, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Coin-Controlled Apparatus; and I do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters and numerals of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention has reference to a novel construction of coin-controlled apparatus for the displaying of pictures of various kinds, and more especially for the exhibition of transparencies, light being transmitted to the surface of the pictures to produce great distiuctness and reality.

My invention therefore has for its primary object to provide a novel construction of coin-controlled apparatus in which the transparencies or-pictures are mounted on an endless baud or belt or are arranged in a series of connectedsections passing over rollers or drums operated bya suitably-controlled gear or other mechanism, and more especially by an electrically-controlled mechanism when electrical contact-is made by the deposited coin to set the various mechanisms in operation.

The invention therefore consists in the novel construction of coin-controlled apparatus to be hereinafter more fully described and in the several novel arrangements and combinations of parts embodied in the same, all of which will be fully described in the accompanying specification and finally embodied in the clauses of the claim.

The invention, furthermore, consists in certain details of construction and improvements in a gear mechanism for rotating the endless band or connected picture-sections, and also in a novel construction of coin-chute in which a deposited coin makes an electrical contact to operate a small electric motor connected with the gear mechanism and to make and break connection of an electric light or lights used to light up the pictures.

The invention .is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a front view of my novel form of coin-controlled apparatus. Fig. 2 is a side View, and Fig. 3 is a top View, of the same. Fig. 4 is a vertical section of the main portion of the apparatus, on an enlarged scale, taken on line 4 4 in Fig'. 2, the coin-controlled mechanism being represented in front elevation; and Fig. 5 is a similar section of the casing, taken on line 5 5 in said Fig. 2, the said viewillustrating a rear view of the coincontrolled operating mechanism. Fig. 6 is a horizontal section of the apparatus, taken on line 6 6 in Fig. 4; and Fig. 7 is a similar section taken on line 7 7 in said Fig. 5. Fig. 8 is a vertical section of the apparatus, taken on line 8 8 in Fig. 6 when looking in the direction of the arrow as in said figure; and Fig. 9 is a similar section of the apparatus, taken on line 9 9 in said Fig.6 when looking in the same direction of the arrow 00. Fig. 10 is a diagrammatic view of the electrical circuits and the several operating mechanisms in said circuits. Fig. 11 is a detail view of one form of pivotally connecting the picture-sections, and Fig. 12 is a detail view of a certain electrical spring-contact employed in connection with the apparatus. Fig. 13 is a front View, on an enlarged scale, of a portion of the coinchute and coin for making electrical contact and a mechanism connected therewith for releasing the coin at the proper time, said view illustrating the several parts in their initial positions. Fig. 14 is a similar view of the several parts represented in said 'Fig. 13, but in their operated positions,with the coin released from the lower portion of the coin-chute. Fig. 15 is a part side view and part vertical section on line 15 15 in said Fig. 13 of the mechanism represented in said Figs. 13 and 14, and Fig. 16 is a plan. view of said mechanism.

Similar letters and numerals of reference are employed in all of the above described views to indicate corresponding parts.

In said drawings, A indicates the casing,

1 in the front with a door I) and a lock Z) and which, as will be seen from the several figures IOO having a top portion or piece a Other parts of the said body a are a back a and the sides a said back a extendingabove the said top piece a and said sides a being cut away in the form of a right angle to receive a removable step-like shelf-piece (t in which there is a coin-slot a, as will be seen from Fig. By the arrangement of a bottom shelf a and a shelf a connected with the casing A, the latter is practically divided into an upper and a lower compartment. By the arrangement of the door I) and the said removable shelf-piece a the entire interior of the casing can be exposed when it is necessary to get at the mechanism for repairs and inspection of the latter. Slidably arranged against the under surface of the shelf a is a money-drawerb pro- -vidcd with a lock b and a is a suitable slot in said shelfa through which the coin passes from the coin-chute into the drawer, in the manner to be hereinafter more fully set forth. The top piece a hereinabove mentioned, is preferably provided with a downwardlyinclining piece at which is formed with a suitable opening, over which I have secured a frame 0, provided with a pair of observation glasses or lenses 0', and on the back of said downwardly-inclining piece, within the upper compartment of the casing A, there is a partition or dividing board 0 these several parts forming a stereoscope, through which the pictures may be viewed.

The hollow base a of the apparatus A is closed from the lower compartment of the main body a by a suitable shell g, which is preferably made of sheet metal and is semicylindrical, being secured in position within the casing A, su bsta ntially as illustrated more particularly in Figs. 8 and 9.

Secured to the inner surface of one of the sides a of the casing within the upper compartment is the frame (1 of a suitable gear mechanism d. Said mechanism comprises a spindle d having a grooved pulley thereon for operating said mechanism by means of a suitable flexible connection f from an electric motorf, arranged upon the shelf a By means of the usual arrangement of intermediate gearing 1 can thus operate aspindle d rotating in bearings in the frame d. 011 said spindle d is a disk d, having atooth or spur d, which at certain times can be brought in operative engagement with certain studs d on a second disk d Said latter disk d is operatively secured to a shaft 6 by means of a pin 01", and will thereby cause a rotative motion of said shaft when the disk d is actuated by the disk d and the gear mechanism connected with the latter. Said shaft 6 is rotatively arranged in asuitably-constructed bearing e and in a bearing of the frame d, as will be more clearly evident from an inspection of Figs. 4, 5, and t) of the drawings. In order that the flexible connection between the driving-wheel f of the motorf and the grooved wheel or pulley on the spindle ol" may be kept taut at all times, I have pivoted to the lower portion of the frame 61' a frame f which is provided with a grooved idler f, the same being arranged in such a manner that its weight will bear constantly against one portion of the flexible connection f and will thus maintain the tautness of the latter under all conditions, as will be understood from Fig. 9. On the said shaft 6, above mentioned, I have also secured in any wellknown manner two or more angularly-constructed disks 6 as will be seen from Figs. 6 and 8, said disks being preferably made in the manner of a pentagon, as indicated in Fig. 8.

In the lower compartment of the casing A and directly above the shell 91 have rot-atively arranged in suitable bearings 6 secured to the sides of the casing A, a second shaft e", which is in direct alinement with the uppershaft e. Said shaft 6 is provided with a cylindrical guide wheel or drum e, and rotatively arranged on pins 6 on the back a of the casing are a pair of guide-rollers 6 between which certain pivot-ally-connected picture-sections h, which pass over said disks 6 on the shaft e and around the guide-drum e, are guided, and any lateral movement of said sections h, which might cause their displacement, is thus avoided. The arrangement of said guide-rollers is illustratedjn Fig. 4, said rollers being omitted in the other views, so as not to obscure the several parts.

I will now describe the arrangement of the picture-sections h, Said sections, of which there usually are fifteen, (but there may be any other desirable-number of such sections,) are preferably made of sheet metal'and are usually connected on the back by suitablyconstructed hinges h in the manner more clearly illustrated in Fig. 11. Of course it will be evident that any other suitable connection may be employed for pivotally connecting said sections h.

As will be seen from Figs. 4, 5, and 6, each picture-section h has its edges on three sides turned over to form suitable holding orclamping edges h, beneath which a picture or photograph, such as is usually used in a stereoscope, can be inserted and securely held during the operation of the mechanism of the apparatus.

In connection with the manner of making an electrical connection by means of the deposited coinI will also describe the construction of the coin-chute and the operating mechanism for releasing the coin.

The arrangement and construction of the coin-chute are more clearly indicated in Figs. 1, 13, 14, 15, and 16. As illustrated more particularly in said Figs. 13, 14, and 15, I

vment with the coin-slot a in said shelf.

tend inglever or arm '6", which is provided with a portion,as1l ,extendingtoapointdirectly adjacent to the inner surface of the frame-sections h, whereby said arm 2' becomes depressed ata certain time by being engaged by a suitable projection or stop it on one of said section-s h when the lattersare being moved by the shaft 6 and the disks e thereon, as indicated in the dotted outline in said Figs. 13 and 14. The downward movement of the said lever or arm i will actuate a rod i which is pivotally connected at the top, as at i, with said lever or arm i and is adapted to reciprocatein the bearing 1'. The said rod in consequence of this arrangement will cause a downward movement of a plate or bar I, which is secured upon a shaft or spindle Z, rotatively arranged in a bearing portion in the frame 11, and a bearing Z on said shelf a as more clearly indicated in Figs. 15 and 16. In its normal state when the mechanism is in its inoperative position a spring is will force said plate or bar I a'gainsta stop n, made of a nonconducting material and secured against the side of the framed by means of a screw n, substantially as indicated in Figs. 13, 14, 15, and 16. Secured upon said shaft or spindle Z is a gutter-like coin-retaining section Z ,which' extends at an angle toward a gutter-like coinretaining section or support 0, secured directly upon the shelf a and both in aline- Said retaining-support 0 has its upper surface inclining downwardly, as at 0', and has secured thereon, as indicated in dotted outline in Fig. 13, an upwardly-extending coin-chute 0 which terminates directly beneath the coinslot 0, in the step-like shelf or piece a If desired,the said main chute 0 and the part 0 may be made integral with one another, as in said Fig. 13, or the main chute 0 may be made separate from the part 0, terminating directly above the inclined surface 0 thereof, in which case the chute 0 is secured directly to the under surface of the shelf a and is braced by suitable braces 0 and 0 as indicated in Fig. 8.

When a coin is deposited in the chute 0 it will pass along the latter and between the sides of the coin-retaining piece Z and the support 0, where it is retained in the position indicated in Fig. 13. Before describing the operation of delivering this coin into the drawer beneath the shelf a I will now describe the arrangement of the electrical circuits, as illustrated in Figs. 4 and 10, the several circuits and. their connections having been omitted in the other figures of the drawings. As indicated more especially in said Fig. 10, the numerals l and 2 indicate the main-circuit wires, which enter the casing A in the back through the holesp (see Fig. 5) and are respectively connected with bindingposts 3 and 4 on the plates 5 and 6, arranged on the shelf a of the apparatus. The plate 5 has a second binding-post 7, and the plate 6 a second binding-post 8, and connected with said binding-posts 7 and 8 and incircuit with the wires 9 and 10 is an incandescent lamp 3, a push-button r being arranged in the wire 9, as indicated. Said push-button r is located on the top or side of the casing and enables a person to establish a short circuit through the wires 9 and 10 and the lamp 8 without operating the motor, whereby one picture can be viewed at any time without dropping a coin into the apparatus. To set the mechanism in motion, a coin must be passed into the chute and located between the parts Z and '0. Immediately the current from the main circuit 1 will pass through the plate 5 into wire 11, through the part 0 and the coininto the part Z thence through the spindle l into the frame or support 2', and through a wire 12 into an incandescent lamp 3. From this lamp the current passes through wire 14 to bindingpost 8, plate 6, and into the main-circuit wire 2, whereby a complete electrical circuit is established to operate the motor f, which sets the mechanism of the apparatus in motion, and a person can View all the pictures. The lamp 8, which illuminates the lower com partment, is intended as a resistance to prevent the motorf from running too fast. An ordinary switch t may be used in this circuit for testing purposes.

In order that the uppermost picture may be properly lighted during the operation of the mechanism, I have arranged a third incandescent lamp 3 in a circuit-wire 15, connected with the support 2' and the wire 10, hereinabove-mentioned.

When the picture-sections it have all but one passed beneath the stereoscope, the post or stop it on the last section hwillengage with the arm '11 to depress the same, whereby owing to the intermediately-arranged parts the plate or bar I will partially rotate the spindle l and cause the coin-retaining piece 1 to assume the position illustrated in Fig. 14. Immediately the coin drops through the slot in the shelf a and down into the drawer therebeneath, and the electrical contact thus being broken the mechanism for operating the sections h will remain at rest, while the part Z plate or arm Z, and parts connected therewith will be caused to return to their normally inoperative positions by the action of the spring 70, which forces the end of said plate or arm against the stop it, hereinabove mentioned. As willbe seen more especially from Figs. 13 and 14, the said cylindrical stop'n is eccentrically arranged on a screw 72, whereby said stop can be turned on said screw to cause the plate or arm 1 to be variously adjusted, and thereby bring the coin-retaining piece Z farther away or closer to the coin-support 0 to suit the mechanism to coins of different denominations. v

If desired, one of the sections h may also be provided with a stud or post It, (see Figs. 5 and 8,) which can be made to engage a rightangled portion to of a rod u, pivotally attached to one side of the casing A and cause theoptoo posite end of said rod to lift a spring-contact 10 as indicated more particularly in Fig. 12, which establishes an electric circuit through a battery 1) and an alarm or bell 1) just prior to the engagement of the stop or lift piece h with the arm 11 to indicate that all the pictures have been displayed.

Iam aware that many changes may be made in the'several arrangements and combinations of the various mechanisms and in the details of the 'construction thereof without departing from .the scope of my present invention. Hence I do not limit my invention to the exact arrangements and combinations of the mechanism and parts as herein described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, nor do 1 limit myself to the exact details of the construction of such parts.

Having thus described my invention, I=claim is- 1. In a coin-controlled apparatus, the combination, with an endless rotary band for carrying pictures, of a coin-chute, means connected with said chute to receive a coin and hold it to make electrical contact, a shaft on which said rotary band is arranged, a disk d on said shaft having studs d", a second disk (1 having a tooth to engage said studs d, a gear mechanism for operating said disks, an electric motor for operating said gear mechanism, and means connected with said band for releasing said coin and breaking electrical contact, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. In a coin-controlled apparatus, the combination, with an endless rotary band for carryin'g pictures, of a coin-chute, means connected with said chute to receive a coin and hold it to makeelectrical contact, a shaft on which said rotary band is arranged, a disk OZ on said shaft having studs d a second disk d having a tooth to engage said studs (l a :gearmechanism for operating said disks, an electric motor for operating said gear mechanism, and means connected with said band for releasing said coin and breaking electrical contact, a flexible connection between said motor andthe band-operating mechanism, 'anda belt-tightening device, consisting of a pivoted frame and grooved pulley in rotative bearing contact with said flexible connection, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. In a coin-controlled apparatus, the combination, with a casing and a coin-chute, of a *frame or support, a shaftor spindle oscillatorily arranged in relation with said support, a-coi'n-section fixed on said shaft or spindle, a fixed coin-section in said casing, and a means of adjustment connected with said frame or support to bring said coin-sections closer together or farther apart, consisting,

what

essentially, of an eccentrically-arranged stop n, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

4. In a coin-controlled apparatus, the combination, with a casing and a coin-chute, of a frame or support, a shaft or spindle oscillatorily arranged in relation with said support, a coin-section fixed on said shaft or spindle, a fixed coin-section in said casing, mechanism for operating said shaft and its coin-section, and a means of adjustment connected with said frame or support to bring said coinsections closer together or farther apart, consisting, essentially, of an eccentrically-arranged stop at, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

5. In a coin-controlled apparatus, the combination, with a casing, of an endless rotary band, comprising pivotally-connected picture-s'ections, means for rotating the same, a coin-chute, a pair of coin-retaining sections directly beneath the lower end of said ch-ute, one of said sections being movable, while the other section is fixed, a stop or projection on one of the said picture-sections, and means connected with said movable coin-section to be actuated by said stop or projection, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

6. vIn a coin-controlled apparatus, the combination, with a casing, of an endless rotary band, comprising pivotally-connected picture-sections, means for rotating the same, a coin-chute, a frame or support, a shaft or spindle oscillatorily arranged in relation to said support, a coin-section fixed on saidshaft or spindle, a fixed coin-section in said casing, a stop or projection on one of the said picture-sections, and means actuated by said stop or projection to operate said shaft and its coin-section, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

7. In a coin-controlled apparatus, the combination, with a casing, of an endless rotary band, comprising pivotally-connected picture-sections, means for rotating the same, a coin-chute, a frame or support, a shaft or spindle oscillatorily arranged in relation to said support, a coin-section fixed on said shaft or spindle, a fixed coin-section in said casing,

a stop or projection on one of said picture-sections, means actuated by said stopor projection to operate said shaft and its coin-section, an arm or plate connected with said shaft or spindle, a stop on said frame orsupport, and a spring to normally cause the engagement of said armor plate with said stop, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

8. In a coin-controlled apparatus, the combination, with a casing, of an endless rotary band, comprising pivotally-connected picture-sections, means for rotating the same, a coin-chute, aframe or support, having a hearing portion, a vertically-moving rod or post in said bearing portion, a pivoted lever or arm provided with a finger portion adjacent to the inner surface of the picture-sections, a shaft or spindle oscillatorily arranged in relation to said frame or support, a coin-section fixed on said shaft or spindle, a coin-section fixed in said casing. and a stop or projection on one of the said picture-sections,-to actuate the said pivoted lever connected with said shaft or spindle, a coin-sect-ion fixed in said casing, astop or projection on one of the said picture-sections, to actuate the said pivoted lever connected with said vertically-moving rod or post, an arm or plate connected with said shaft or spindle, on which the lower end of said vertically-moving rod or post rests, a stop on said frame or support, and a spring to normally cause the engagement of said arm or plate with said stop substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony that I claim the invention set forth above I have hereunto set my hand this 28th day of June, 1898.

RUDOLPH WAGNER.

Witnesses:

FREDK. G. FRAENTZEL, WALTER H. TALMAGE. 

